'Good Teammate And A Good Person'

Even the most hardened pros can find the adjustment to be a complete shock to the senses.

He isn’t exactly ‘used to it’ by now, but after stops in four other markets and a PTO to begin his Flames tenure, Tyson Barrie is now officially settled into his new environs.

“Switching teams can be tough,” the 33-year-old admits. “Honestly, though, the first time you do it is probably the hardest and I'm into my fifth team now, so I’ve learned how to deal with it and put my best foot forward.

“When you first come in, you keep your head down, you work hard, and you feel your way around the room and how you're fitting in. But the guys here have been great, super welcoming and inclusive right off the hop, so they've made it easy.”

Barrie, of course, is hardly a greenhorn navigating the rigours of the pro dynamic for the first time.

With 818 games under his belt and a reputation as one of the league’s ‘good guys,’ the Victoria, B.C. native is now firmly entrenched with the group he was acquainting himself with only one month ago.

Stationed between Connor Zary and Ryan Lomberg, with Jonathan Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar and Mikael Backlund in the vicinity in the Flames locker-room, Barrie might not wear a letter – but it’s clear he’s become one of the leaders.

“I pride myself on being a good teammate and a good person,” he said. “That’s really who I try to be everywhere in life, not just in the locker-room and on the ice. But, for sure, I certainly take pride in having fun, bringing some good energy and having a positive outlook, which I believe is important in this game.

“Hopefully the boys are enjoying having me around a little bit, too,” he adds, flashing that patented, toothless grin.

Barrie began the season in the press box, patiently awaiting his opportunity on a blueline stacked with right-handed options. But now, he’s gained the trust of the coaching staff, played in back-to-back games and seven of the past eight, and is flashing more of the offensive creativity we’ve become accustomed to seeing in his 14-plus years on the circuit.

“I think he's feeling more comfortable having been in the lineup fairly regularly the last little bit,” said Head Coach Ryan Huska. “At the start of the year, he wasn't in it a (ton). So, I think he's feeling more comfortable with the puck as he goes. The last Vancouver game, I didn't like our backend as a whole, but I think he's starting to feel like he's more in rhythm with how he's playing the game.”

Barrie agrees.

And when you have the opportunity to string a few together like he has, the confidence gained goes a long way.

“I'm getting to be an older guy in this league, but I've got plenty of game left,” Barrie said. “So, for me, I have goals that I want to achieve personally. I want to play 1,000 games in this league and every one counts. But you also want to play those games for a reason. And every time I step on the ice, I want to do whatever I can to help this team win.”

“This has been such a fun group to be a part of.

“You look at our team and we've got depth, we've got high-end players, we've got a good D corps and we have incredible goaltending, too, which is a huge part of it. To me, it's the style of hockey we're playing. We're not going to score six goals every night, so we've got to be super dialled and be tough to play against, and that's what makes us good.

“We've surprised a couple people to start the season. We're going to be a team that it's in the hunt all year.

“Every team that comes in, they know they're in for a long night and it's going to be tough to get through our neutral zone, and I think we've done really well with that this year.”

Next up: a Friday night date with Barrie’s former team, the Nashville Predators – where he spent parts of the past two seasons plying his trade and strengthening lifelong bonds.

“Me and Ryan O’Reilly were drafted to the Avalanche together in 2009,” Barrie said. “It was pretty cool to get to play with him again in Nashville.

“So, tomorrow should be fun.”